All just a little bitta history repeating (II)

A 1956 Smallwood-era anecdote, convenient for printing off and stapling to the head of the next person who tries to tell anyone in opposition that they ought to not be so “negative”:

No one can blame the Premier for trying to make a favourable impression with what was in the Speech from the Throne, but his idea that we should spend all our time praising the policies he chose for us was most unacceptable to me. What was surprising in his speech was that he devoted a lot of his time to saying how important it was to have a good Opposition. He then proceeded to give [PC leader Malcolm] Hollett a list of ten prohibitions...

1.Stop all petty criticism.

…

10. No more criticism of the Liberal Government.

– William J. Browne, “And now... Eighty-seven years a Newfoundlander”.

St. John's: Dicks, 1981, p. 164.